Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.58.

MSDL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James began coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $23.50 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MSDL traded down $0.13 on Wednesday, hitting $21.21. 27,000 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 154,531. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $19.05 and a 1 year high of $22.97. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $21.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.78.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 1st. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $100.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.34 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 62.81%. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.90%.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.